Miss Rockaway Armada: a fleet of eco-art junk-rafts that sailed the Mississippi

The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA) is currently showing an exhibit on the Miss Rockaway Armada -- a junk-raft fleet of eco-art-maniacs who floated up and down the Mississippi being awesomely weird.

The Miss Rockaway Armada is a collective of artists, musicians, and adventurers-of-all-stripes who spent the summers of 2006 and 2007 journeying down the Mississippi River on a fleet of “junk-rafts.” Hailing from all parts of the country and all walks of life, the Miss Rockaway Armada is united by the desire to create; to demonstrate different ways of living and moving that are friendlier to the environment and to each other; to indulge the urge to make something out of nothing. With this spirit and energy, The Miss Rockaway Armada comes to MASS MoCA for their first project in collaboration with a museum. Being Here is Better Than Wishing We’d Stayed, a site-specific, interactive installation in the Hunter Center Mezzanine, will open to the public on Saturday, April 19, 2008, and will remain on view through March 1, 2009. In addition to the exhibition on Saturday, April 12, 2008, at 2 PM the Miss Rockaway Armada will give a performance in the vein of the impromptu circus/theater performances they staged in towns along the Mississippi.

Link (Thanks, Marilyn!)

Discussion

Take a look at this

#1 posted by Kyle Armbruster , June 8, 2008 6:02 AM

I've been to Natchez and New Orleans, but this beats anything I've ever seen.

#2 posted by Matt Staggs

, June 8, 2008 8:27 AM

That's really cool! I hope that they were very careful, the Mississippi River is an extremely strong and swift river that has claimed the lives of many who underestimated it.
I've lived within an hour's drive of it most of my life and know plenty of people who have lost friends and family to the river.

#3 posted by clockworkjoe , June 8, 2008 10:09 AM

So, is this like the aquatic version of Burning Man?

#4 posted by Deidzoeb

, June 8, 2008 11:04 AM

Any relation to the gutterpunks described in the March 2008 Harper's article "Mississippi Drift: River Vagrants in the age of Wal-Mart"? That was a small group of artsy freegans who disbanded before reaching the end of the river. Great article.

#5 posted by eustace , June 8, 2008 11:04 AM

The link above doesn't seem to lead to info about Miss Rockaway Armada:

http://www.missrockaway.org/wordpress/events/

#6 posted by joshhaglund , June 8, 2008 12:16 PM

This year they're going down the Hudson.

(have fun Ashira!)

#7 posted by ill lich , June 8, 2008 12:56 PM

Yeah-- that link doesn't lead to Mass MOCA or Miss Rockaway Armada.

http://www.massmoca.org

#8 posted by 1MacGeek , June 8, 2008 2:23 PM

They stopped in Muscatine, Iowa last summer. I had the opportunity to talk to a couple of the Rockaway people and a good time was had by all - but yeah, the cops kicked them out of town.

Welcome to small town Iowa - now get out! ;-)

#9 posted by Takuan , June 8, 2008 7:51 PM

Samuel Clemmens would be proud.

My proposed entry: We go to the Great Pacific Plastic Garbage Gyre, use a nuclear powered ice breaker to cut loose a huge raft, rig sails and beat our way around Cape Horn and make for the Mississipi. Using volunteer galley rowers we get to the start line and it's all down hill from there. Hydrogen hats optional.

#10 posted by gornzilla , June 8, 2008 8:16 PM

Thanks, Eustace. I was about to go searching for that but hoped one of the comments had the link.

#11 posted by eustace , June 8, 2008 10:40 PM

Hydrogen hats mandatory. Spread the risk.